Breakthrough: Controlling Miniature Objects Via Acoustics And Music

Aalto University Researchers just made a breakthrough by using a single acoustic source to control the motion of various objects on a vibrating plate. They did this by carefully playing pre-composed melodies, the result: scientists can now independently and simultaneously move objects on the plate towards any desired destination. This has enabled the researchers, for example, writing words with loose metal debris on the plate.
Previously done in 1878, the pioneering studies of sand moving on vibrating plates were conducted by Ernst Chlandni, famously known as the ‘father of acoustics’. Chladni found out that when a plate vibrates at certain frequencies, the sand moves towards distinct directions, called nodal lines, in response to a certain frequency. Since that day, the view has been that particle motion is always random before they would assemble at the nodal line, Science Daily reports. To quote:

"We have shown that the motion is also predictable away from the nodal lines. Now that the object does not have to be at a nodal line, we have much more freedom in controlling its motion and have achieved independent control of up to six objects simultaneously using just one single actuator. We are very excited about the results, because this probably is a new world record of how many independent motions can be controlled by a single acoustic actuator," Professor Quan Zhou expressed.

Positioned on top of a certain manipulation plate, the objects to be manipulated are being recorded by a tracking camera. Based on the captured positions, the computer then goes through a huge list of music notes to identify that certain note that would most likely propel the objects towards the target directions. After playing the identified note, the new locations of where the objects are becomes identified, then this control cycle is repeated until the test objects have finally arrived on their destinations. The end result, music, or something like it.
This new method has been put to use to experiment with a wide range of little objects such as water droplets, electronic components, seeds, metal shavings, and candy. One good use for this someday is to have it being applied with medicine, where the delivery of drugs can be done inside the body or manipulating them to forge a new drug. Another application would be:

"Also, the basic idea should be transferrable to other kinds of systems with vibration phenomena. For example, it should be possible to use waves and ripples to control floating objects in a pond using our technique."

What do you think about this breakthrough? Is controlling micro objects really possible with acoustics or music? Hit us with your comments below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5fVFA2sWt4